Fashionable hats at Royal Ascot horse racing festival

Royal Ascot horse racing festival

Rules in the 'Royal Enclosure' at Ascot demand formal attire, with dresses and skirts of modest length defined as falling just above the knee or longer. Strapless, off the shoulder, halter neck and spaghetti straps are not permitted, and no bare-skin in the midriff area is permitted. Similar rules are in place for the main grandstand areas away from the Royal Enclosure.

The followers of fashion at Royal Ascot in Berkshire and the Grand National in Liverpool, where there is plenty of bare flesh and low cleavages on show, are a million miles apart.

Liverool-based fashion consultant Joanne Watkinson said: "You can't dictate to people what they can and can't wear. Some national newspapers can be particularly offensive on Ladies Day, deliberately setting out to target certain women and poke fun at them, and that's just the worse form of snobbery."

She added the London style experts being consulted are also unlikely to understand the dress divide between northern and southern England.

"How dare they join together to govern what our girls wear," she added, citing a gathering of fashion gurus at a Jockey Club event in London where the proposed 'style guide' was discussed.